The most isolating aspect of blindness is how it limits mobility. For the blind and visually impaired, walking to the corner store, or finding the right office or college classroom can be daunting when the terrain is unfamiliar or there is no one to guide you.
At the same time, technology, including Global Positioning Systems and satellite images accessed via cell phone from Google Earth makes it easy to pinpoint a location and receive directions, often parsed to within feet, to one’s destination.
High-tech devices promise to increase blind people's mobility by providing real-time data for orientation and building confidence for independent travel with Web applications that facilitate virtual explorations of target environments.
Smart Cane Project, BlindAid Augment Mobility of the Blind
Kumar Yelamarthi, an engineering professor at Central Michigan University, and five students have created a prototype “Smart Cane” that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to detect obstacles and provide navigational cues. The cane has an ultrasonic sensor and is used with a messenger-style shoulder bag with a speaker on the strap that sounds alerts when it detects an obstacle, i.e., an RFID flag placed on a building or sign. The signals are auditory or tactile (felt through a vibrating glove) and indicate corrections to assure a clear path. Yelamarthi is working towards integrating Smart Cane data with GPS devices.
Dr. Orly Lahav of Tel Aviv University’s School of Education and Porter School for Environmental Studies has invented a software tool called BlindAid to facilitate navigation through unfamiliar places. Users access the program via a joystick, a 3-D haptic device that sends directional cues as physical sensations felt through the fingertips: e.g. the joystick stiffens when the user meets a virtual wall or barrier.
BlindAid digitizes real-world data so users can explore virtual environments and make mental maps, getting a sense of streets, sidewalks, and hallways, making unknown spaces familiar, and increasing feelings of confidence and control before going out alone.
Moshi Voice Control Travel Alarm Clock
The Moshi Travel Alarm Clock is the newest in its line of voice-controlled talking clocks. The clock speaks responses to commands such as “time,” “temperature,” or “today's date.” Other voice commands can set the alarm, time, or date; hit “snooze;” or select sleep sounds. The clock, available in four colors, measures 3.75” x 2.75” x 1”, weighs 2.7 ounces, runs on three AAA batteries. Online retailers include Amazon.com and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Add Audio Captions to Photos with Fotobabble
Fotobabble enables users to add voice notes in lieu of text captions or narrate a slideshow. Users create galleries on Fotobabble’s website and record voice captions to attach to images that can be shared as links or as embedded code pasted into your website. Fotobabble supports one-click posting to Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, among other social networks and services. The downside is the site’s inaccessibility to screen readers.
Technology continues to break down barriers that separate blindness from living a full, independent life, one that enables visually impaired persons to enjoy many of the simple conveniences that sighted people rarely consider.
Andrew Leibs - Andrew Leibs is Suite101’s Feature Writer for Accessible Recreation. He is a longtime chronicler of the disability movement with ...
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